Panetta says goodbye to D.C., calls career 'hell of a ride'

After four decades of working in Washington, D.C. as one of the most powerful and important leaders in America, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is retiring and returning to his Carmel Valley home.

At a farewell ceremony Friday, President Barack Obama noted that Panetta oversaw the repeal of a ban on gays serving openly in the military and opened combat roles to women.

Panetta, 74, was set to retire as CIA director in the spring of 2011 when Obama asked him to run the Pentagon.

Before he took over the Pentagon, Panetta was a congressman, federal budget director, White House chief of staff and CIA director who oversaw the operation that killed Osama bin Laden.

"It's been, for me, a hell of a ride," the Monterey native said.

"I will never forget the pride and exhilaration when I walked out of the White House after the president announced the success of the bin Laden operation," he recalled. "I could hear the chants of those people who were gathered around the White House and in Lafayette Park yelling, 'U.S.A., U.S.A.'"

Obama nominated former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Republican, to take over for Panetta, but Republicans have expressed deep misgivings about his previous statements about Iran, Israel and other issues. Days after postponing a vote on Hagel's confirmation amid GOP demands for more information, the Democratic chairman of the Senate's military panel said Friday he will press ahead with a vote.

Panetta has said he will remain on the job until the Senate confirms a successor. Then he will finally leave the Pentagon, returning home to his walnut farm in Carmel.

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